The group sings from The Sacred Harp, an oblong songbook first published in 1844 by B.F.White and E.J.King.  The music is printed in "patent notes", where the shape of the note head indicates the syllables FA, SOL, LA, and MI.  The repertory includes psalm tunes, fuging tunes, odes and anthems by the first American composers (1770 - 1810), and settings of folk songs and revival hymns (1810 - 1860).   This style of singing stems from singing schools in the colonial period.   Preserved in the rural South, Sacred Harp singing (also called fasola singing or shape-note singing) is making a major resurgence in cities and campuses throughout North America and has a keen group of devotees in the UK, many of whom also sing West Gallery music from the English eighteenth century.